Nikhil Anand Named Daniel Braun Silvers, W’98, WG’99, and Robert Peter Silvers, C’02, Family Presidential Associate Professor of Anthropology

Nikhil Anand, Associate Professor of Anthropology, has been named Daniel Braun Silvers, W’98, WG’99, and Robert Peter Silvers, C’02, Family Presidential Associate Professor of Anthropology.

An environmental anthropologist whose research focuses on cities, infrastructure, state power, and climate change, Anand is the author of Hydraulic City: Water and the Infrastructures of Citizenship (Duke University Press, 2017), which was named Best Book in Urban Affairs/Urban Studies by the Urban Affairs Association. His new book project, Urban Seas, is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the Penn Global Inquiries Fellowship. He currently serves as Associate Faculty Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, Director of Penn Envirolab, and Advisory Board Member of the University’s Environmental Innovations Initiative.

Patricia Braun Silvers, CW’72, and David Silvers, C’71, parents, established the Daniel Braun Silvers, W’98, WG’99, and Robert Peter Silvers, C’02, Family Presidential Professorship in 2021 in honor of their children. Patricia was a member of the Center for High Impact Philanthropy Advisory Board and is chair of the gift committee for the Class of 1972. She is also an Emerita member of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women and a former member of the Board of Advisors at the School of Social Policy & Practice. She was the founder of Patricia Silvers/Executive Search in New York. David is a partner at U.S. Realty Advisors LLC. In addition to the endowed professorship, for many years, they have generously supported Penn, including undergraduate financial aid, the School of Social Policy & Practice, the Jewish Studies Program, and the Penn Fund.